Easter Eye Witness

"Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." Luke 24:45

Once again, we are with the disciples in the locked room on that first Easter evening: a group of worried-looking disciples, hiding behind locked doors. I imagine Peter pacing around, jumping at every sound that comes from outside, ready to draw his sword. We look at their faces and see the confusion there, the sadness and the fear.

And they had no idea what was about to happen to them. Even though Jesus had told them, they were so worried that Jesus’ body wasn’t in the tomb that they had forgotten the very special task the Lord had for them. Jesus was about to come and make them his witnesses.

But, as always, Jesus never leaves his followers empty-handed. If he gives them a task he also gives them the tools. If Jesus was going to make them his witnesses, if these worried and sad disciples were going to go before the world and witness the miracle of Easter, then they were going to need some help. They were going to need to understand the Scriptures, so Jesus opened their minds. They were going to need power and motivation, so Jesus promised them the Holy Spirit.

As Jesus’ followers, we carry on the legacy of that first Easter. The task Jesus gave to those worried men in that locked room, he hands to us, too. We are Easter’s witnesses. And if we’re going to be any good at this job, we need tools. We need to have our minds opened so we can understand the Scriptures. We need the power and motivation to get the job done, so Jesus makes us Spirit-powered witnesses.

It’s almost as if we are standing in that locked room on that first Easter evening. It’s almost as if the Lord were physically present right now speaking those same empowering words, “You are witnesses of these things.”